Snorkeling mask

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a snorkeling mask. The snorkeling mask includes: goggles configured to enable a wearer to see underwater while surrounding the facial region of the wearer; a snorkel configured such that one end thereof is connected to the mouth of the wearer and the other end thereof is exposed out of a water surface; and a connection tube configured to connect the goggles and the snorkel to each other so that the insides of the goggles and the snorkel communicate with each other, and configured such that a portion thereof is inserted into the snorkel to a predetermined length. When an inspiratory breath of the wearer passes over the inserted portion of the connection tube while passing through the inside of the snorkel and being discharged to an outside, moisture inside the goggles passes through the connection tube and is discharged to the outside according to Bernoulli&#39;s principle.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to a snorkeling mask, and morespecifically to a snorkeling mask which is capable of minimizing afogging phenomenon on mask lenses by means of Bernoulli's principle.

2. Description of the Related Art

Snorkeling is a type of leisure sport which enables a user to enjoyunderwater sightseeing at a depth of about 5 m in water via only simpleequipment. Snorkeling is a leisure activity enjoyed by many peoplebecause it can be easily learned by anyone regardless of age andphysical strength without requiring a separate diving technique orswimming capability.

Snorkeling is easily accessible to anyone because a user can enjoyswimming at a depth of about 5 m in water while wearing only simpleequipment, such as fins, a snorkel, and goggles, and can breathe freelyvia a snorkel while putting his or her face in the water without liftinghis or her head above a water surface. A user can breathe freely via thesnorkel, and thus snorkeling is characterized in that it does notconsume a large amount of physical strength even when the user floats onthe water for a long period of time.

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing typical snorkeling equipment. Thetypical snorkeling equipment includes goggles 10 composed of transparentlenses so that a wearer can see a front area underwater whilesurrounding the eyes and nose of the wearer so that water is preventedfrom infiltrating thereinto, and a snorkel 20 configured to be connectedto the mouth of the wearer so that the wearer can breathe freelyunderwater.

However, the conventional snorkeling equipment is problematic in thatthe use thereof is inconvenient because moisture is easily generated dueto a difference between an inner temperature and an outer temperaturewhen a wearer wears the goggles 10 or because the wearer cannot see anarea in front of the lenses due to a fogging phenomenon or the like.

SUMMARY

The present invention has been conceived to overcome the above-describedproblems, and an object of the disclosure is to provide a snorkelingmask which is capable of preventing a fogging phenomenon on mask lensesby means of Bernoulli's principle.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present disclosure providesa snorkeling mask including: goggles configured to enable a wearer tosee underwater while surrounding the facial region of the wearer inorder to prevent water from infiltrating thereinto; a snorkel configuredsuch that one end thereof is connected to the mouth of the wearer andthe other end thereof is exposed out of a water surface so thatinspiratory and expiratory breaths of the wearer pass therethrough; anda connection tube configured to connect the goggles and the snorkel toeach other so that the insides of the goggles and the snorkelcommunicate with each other, and configured such that a portion thereofis inserted into the snorkel to a predetermined length; wherein when aninspiratory breath of the wearer passes over the inserted portion of theconnection tube while passing through the inside of the snorkel andbeing discharged to an outside, moisture inside the goggles passesthrough the connection tube and is discharged to the outside through thesnorkel according to Bernoulli's principle.

The connection tube may have a diameter which is equal to or smallerthan that of the snorkel.

The connection tube may be made of a rubber or silicon material.

The connection tube may include at least two connection tubes.

One side of the connection tube which is connected to the goggles sothat the connection tube communicates with the inside of the goggles mayextend to a predetermined length along the circumferential surface ofthe goggles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing typical snorkeling equipment;

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a snorkeling mask according to anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 3 is a reference view illustrating a principle by which internalmoisture is discharged according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detailbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in thefollowing description of the present disclosure, when it is determinedthat a detailed description of a related well-known function orconfiguration may unnecessarily make the gist of the present inventionobscure, the detailed description will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a snorkeling mask according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in this drawing, the snorkeling mask according to theembodiment of the present disclosure includes goggles 11, a snorkel 21,and a connection tube 30 configured to connect the goggles 11 and thesnorkel 21 to each other.

The goggles 11 are configured to surround the facial region of a wearerin order to prevent water from infiltrating into the snorkeling mask,and are made of a transparent material so that the wearer of the gogglescan see the outside underwater. The goggles 11 include transparentlenses configured to have an area which surrounds the eyes and nose of auser, and a frame configured to fasten the transparent lenses and tomaintain airtightness in a shape which surrounds areas around the eyesand the nose. Alternatively, the goggles may be formed in a mask shapewhich surrounds the overall face of the wearer including the eyes, thenose, and the mouth.

Typically, it is important to the goggles to maintain an airtightcharacteristic. When a wearer wears the goggles, a fogging phenomenonoccurs on the lens portions of the goggles due to a sealed structureintended to achieve the above airtight characteristic. The wearersuffers from cumbersomeness and inconvenience in that he or she oftenneeds to take off the goggles, to clean the lens portions, and to wearthe goggles again. In the present disclosure, a configuration in whichthe connection tube 30 is connected to one side of the goggles 11 tocommunicate with the inside of the goggles 11 is proposed in order tominimize the above moisture or fogging phenomenon on the goggles lenses.

Meanwhile, the snorkel 21 is configured such that in order to enable awearer to breathe underwater, one end thereof is connected to the mouthof the wearer and the other end thereof is exposed out of a watersurface so that the inspiratory and expiratory breaths of the wearer canpass therethrough. In this case, the other end of the snorkel 21 may beformed in a lid shape or bent shape in order to prevent impurities to beintroduced thereinto. Furthermore, the goggles 11 and the snorkel 21 maybe integrated with each other, or may be formed to be selectivelycoupled to and separated from each other via a separate fastening means.

The connection tube 30 connects one side of the goggles 11 and thecenter portion of the snorkel 21 to each other, and is connected suchthat the insides of the goggles 11 and the snorkel 21 communicate witheach other. In this case, the connection tube 30 is inserted into thesnorkel 21 to a predetermined length. The connection tube 30 mayfunction as a type of coupling means which couples the goggles 11 andthe snorkel 21 to each other so that the snorkel 21 is coupled to thegoggles 11 and thus it is not separated from the snorkel 21 in use.

In this case, the diameter of the connection tube 30 may be formed to beequal to or smaller than that of the snorkel 21.

FIG. 3 is a reference view illustrating a principle by which internalmoisture is discharged according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

As shown in this drawing, one end of the connection tube communicateswith the inside of the goggles 11 and the other end of the connectiontube 30 communicates with the inside of the snorkel 21, with the resultthat moisture inside the goggles 11 can be discharged to the outsidethrough the snorkel 21. In this case, the other end of the connectiontube 30 is inserted into the snorkel 21 to a predetermined length.Accordingly, for example, when an inspiratory breath of a wearer passesover the inserted portion of the connection tube while passing throughthe inside of the snorkel 21 and being discharged to the outside,moisture inside the goggles can pass through the connection tube and bedischarged to the outside through the snorkel according to Bernoulli'sprinciple.

In other words, when an inspiratory breath which is generated when awearer wearing the snorkel 21 breathes passes over the inserted portionof the connection tube 30 while passing through the inside of thesnorkel 21 and being discharged to the outside, a pressure in region Aof the connection tube 30 decreases below a pressure in region B of theconnection tube 30 according to Bernoulli's principle while theinspiratory breath is passing through the portion of the snorkel 21which is narrowed by the inserted portion of the connection tube 30.Accordingly, a difference in pressure occurs between both ends of theconnection tube 30, and thus suction force F is naturally generated. Dueto this suction force F, moisture accumulated inside the goggles 11 canbe rapidly moved from region B to region A through the connection tube.The moisture inside the goggles 11 moved through the connection tube 30is discharged from the snorkel 21 to the outside along with theinspiratory breath of the wearer.

Although FIG. 3 illustrates only the discharge of moisture from theinside of the goggles 11 by means of an inspiratory breath, moistureinside the goggles 11 can be also discharged by means of an expiratorybreath according to the same principle. A detailed description thereofis omitted.

Meanwhile, the connection tube 30 is preferably made of a rubber orsilicon material so that the connection tube 30 is coupled to thegoggles 11 and ensures flexible movement to some extent in the state inwhich a wearer wears the goggles 11.

Furthermore, for ease of description, only the single connection tube 30is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Alternatively, in order to furtherimprove the performance of the discharge of moisture from the goggles11, a plurality of connection tubes may be provided.

Furthermore, although the connection tube 30 is illustrated as beingdisposed on the left side of the goggles in FIGS. 2 and 3 for ease ofdescription, the location where the connection tube 30 is disposed isnot limited thereto, but may be disposed on any one of the right side,upper side and bottom side of the goggles 11. Furthermore, in order touniformly eliminate a fogging phenomenon on the left and right lenses ofthe goggles, one side of the connection tube which is connected to theleft side of the goggles so that the connection tube communicates withthe inside of the goggles may further extend up to the right side of thegoggles 11 to a predetermined length along the circumferential surfaceof the goggles.

The embodiment of the present disclosure is advantageous in that evenwhen the snorkeling mask is worn for a long period of time, a foggingphenomenon on goggles lenses can be minimized.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein.The scope of the present invention should be defined based on theclaims, and all technologies falling within ranges equivalent to theclaims should be construed as being included in the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A snorkeling mask comprising: goggles configuredto enable a wearer to see underwater while surrounding a facial regionof the wearer in order to prevent water from infiltrating thereinto; asnorkel configured such that one end thereof is connected to a mouth ofthe wearer and a remaining end thereof is exposed out of a water surfaceso that inspiratory and expiratory breaths of the wearer passtherethrough; and a connection tube configured to connect the gogglesand the snorkel to each other so that insides of the goggles and thesnorkel communicate with each other, and configured such that a portionthereof is inserted into the snorkel to a predetermined length; whereinwhen an inspiratory breath of the wearer passes over the insertedportion of the connection tube while passing through the inside of thesnorkel and being discharged to an outside, moisture inside the gogglespasses through the connection tube and is discharged to the outsidethrough the snorkel according to Bernoulli's principle.
 2. Thesnorkeling mask of claim 1, wherein the connection tube has a diameterwhich is equal to or smaller than that of the snorkel.
 3. The snorkelingmask of claim 1, wherein the connection tube is made of a rubber orsilicon material.
 4. The snorkeling mask of claim 1, wherein theconnection tube comprises at least two connection tubes.
 5. Thesnorkeling mask of claim 1, wherein one side of the connection tubewhich is connected to the goggles so that the connection tubecommunicates with the inside of the goggles extends to a predeterminedlength along a circumferential surface of the goggles.